According to the official figures, there has been quite an increase in the number of students walking in to UK to pursue higher education. This is especially true for students belonging to the nations which are not under the European Union. This number has increased by more than 75,000 in the last one year. With this number was an additional of 31,000 dependents along with the foreign students.

The British government was following the Labor’s Points Based Immigration System which was brought about to make the process tougher for the unskilled migrants to move to UK. But instead, the process does not seem to be harder for the immigrants with most of them walking in with a student visa.

According to the British government, the system of student visas is being subject to significant abuse. As per the Immigration Minister, Damien Green, a through evaluation of the rules would be done.

At the same time, there are many foreign students who come to the nation to seek genuine degrees. The universities in UK also find them to be a good source of income especially when there is a cut being made in budgets pertaining to higher education. As per a recent research, about one-third of the universities in the nation are planning to increase their intake for foreign students for their undergraduate courses.

It was also found out that some of the colleges also catered to qualifications in subjects like acupuncture, ancient medicine as well as circus skills. Most of the students admitted in these courses have also received a work permit after they graduated.

On the other hand, there are about 4000 undocumented migrants who have supposed to have taken benefit of fake colleges to walk in to the nation. To this Mr. Green added that the nation is committed to bringing in the best of the students to come and study in UK. At the same time, there have been incidents in the past which could be easily said that the student visas system has been abused. So, it has to be ensured that only genuine students walk into the nation. Thus, a proper assessment would be done in the weeks to come. And relevant measures would be introduced which would stiffen the system and reduce the abuse of this system.

It is a well-known fact Indians count for the major part of the immigrants as well as the non-immigrants in the United Kingdom. The recent has been that the Indian tourists have turned out to be the highest spenders in London, especially in the posh West End which is the shopping district in London. Keeping the above in mind, the retailers have started a campaign to advocate the easing of the visa norms specifically for the Indians. This campaign has been put forth to urge the present government of David Cameron.

The campaign has been named as the Visa-Ability Campaign and is being driven on forecasts that the total expenditure by the shoppers in Regent Street, Oxford Street as well as Bond Street would reach up to £12 billion in the coming two years. This is especially going to be true during the London Olympics in 2012.

This high level of expenditures is being expected from international shoppers, especially those belonging to India and China as the exchange rates for them is currently favorable. The main aim is to promote this trend further which would encourage more people to visit and shop in West End and prefer the UK instead of other nations.

According to the New West End Company, the money that would be spent in West End alone this year would go beyond £6 billion. This company makes up for six hundred retailers on the above three high-end shopping streets.

VisitBritain which is an agency promoting international tourism along with the New West End Company have led the campaign to Mr. Damian Green, the Immigration Minister; Mr. Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary for Culture and Olympics and Mr. John Rose, the Tourism Minister.

Many Parliament Members in Britain have already urged the government to remove the new laws on immigration. The recent of which is to clear an English test before they are permitted to come to the UK. This is especially for students from India and other non-European countries.

As per the MPs, these rules have been implemented in a hurry and have many flaws. This would simply discourage around 100,000 international students who pay a very high fee to come and study in the UK. These rules simply threaten a key sector to the economy of the UK and might damage the education industry in the nation.

The stringent UK student visa regulations are creating headaches for the prospective students who are intending to study in the UK. In addition, the rigid rules are damaging country’s reputation in a major way and causing frustrations all around!

According to statistics, more than 55% of the overseas students applying for the extension of their visas have this thinking that the application procedure is not decked with fast pace. Therefore, they find it slow and inefficient. More than 80% think that the Student Visa fee is not reasonable, in accordance to a study conducted by the UK Council for International Student Affairs. The report also says that the level of frustration has risen to a major extend for these students, who are facing unnecessary delays in the overall application and documentation process.

Those overseas students, who have applied for extension under the new Points Based System, have their experienced stored in this survey. A majority of them are not found happy, courtesy the stringent rules and regulations. Since October last year, it has become essential for all the overseas students from outside EU to apply for a new visa, provided they intend to change where they are currently studying.

Also, almost half of the students applying for the visa find the application form extremely difficult to fill. 40% said that it took them almost two months to receive their passports after the submission of their forms.

The rigid regulations are not only creating chaos amongst the students but would also curb down the number of students who are intending to study in the UK.

Bristol: Conservative Party in Britain recently confirmed that it will come out with a bond system for students, especially coming from Indian and other non-EU nations who are intending to study in the UK.

It has been speculated that the win for conservative party would ensure that students from the mentioned nations would be required to furnish a bond before they enroll themselves in British institutions, confirmed Damian Green, the shadow minister immigration.

He went on to say that the immigration system of the country is one of the biggest loopholes as it allows illegal immigrants to come inside the premises. Therefore, it is expected to notice some major amendments in the UK immigration system sooner or later. He said that we are eager to have authentic students and want a fair immigration system.

The country would soon introduce the bond system for overseas immigrants who will be given the bond amount back once they complete their course and return to their country of origin. He also said that there are major concerns about Immigration and they would further ensure that the immigration level returns back to the level of 1980s and 1990s.

Conservative government would come out with stringent actions and would put an annual cap on the quantity of people intending to come to the country. His visit to Gurudwara is seen as an attempt to win Asian votes and hence increasing the support in a major way.

Till any official announcement, let us wait for the announcements.

According to a recent news piece, Immigration experts in Punjab have ensured that prospective students (especially from North India) should not think much about the ban implemented on applications by the UK government as well as the recent racial attacks in Australia.

The immigration experts went on to say that the government of Britain will soon approve student visa application from 22 February onwards. That means that prospective students would be able to file applications to study in the UK in accordance with their preference levels.

Those applicants, who have the right documents, genuine reasons and apply via legal procedures, never suffer any rejections from the Immigration officials. Therefore, it is mandatory that applicants must apply through genuine path, without deviating from legal practices.

The experts believe that the applicants who reach the foreign countries for genuine reasons never suffer, but the ones who intend to go for PR via the path of study visa end up being in trouble.

Therefore, it is advised that parents should send their children to foreign countries along with legal documents. They should not intend to settle down on a permanent basis and choose experienced Immigration consultants to ease out the Immigration procedure.

“Right immigration advice” is the path towards a successful Immigration and a prosperous future in the desired country of your choice!

Sponsor Management System allows only education providers with sponsor license to use it in order to have all the interactions with the UK Border Agency. Currently, Tiers 2, 5 and 4 licensed sponsors can use this system. However, the use of this system is on trial basis for Tier 4 sponsors. Until February 2010, the sponsors can issue visa letters, while gradually taking up the help of the SMS to issue Confirmation of Acceptance to Study to potential students who intend to study in the UK.

In order to apply for the sponsor license to be able to have access to the SMS, an education provider or organization should provide the name along with other details of its ‘level 1 user’. When the level 1 user(s) sets to use the tool, he/she must enter the details, after which he/she can add more level 1 and level 2 users to have access to the system.

To have access to the SMS, users must have access to the Internet, as well as an email address. Users should also have Adobe Acrobat Reader on their system, so that they can keep a check on the payment notes.

Here are few things you should know about the Sponsor Management System:

• The system is helpful in handling users and details in an organization
• It helps in managing and editing user profiles
• It enables users view and manage sponsorship certificates
• It allows users create and attribute sponsorship certificates
• It helps users keep up with various sponsorship duties
• It helps users make payments for sponsorship certificates

Britain Minister, Pat McFadden, in a recent interview said that UK is intending to make the immigration rules stringent for students who come here to study from all over the world, including India. He affirmed that the matter came after holding a two-hour meeting with Indian HRD minister Kapil Sibal, who is recently on his four-day visit to Britain.

Pat McFadden further cleared some facets on “highly trusted sponsor,” and stated that a responsibility would be place on this person certifying that the entry of a student visa holder is genuine and not used solely for immigration purposes.

Nothing has been confirmed from Sibal’s side, nor has the Indian High Commission elaborated anything on the matter. Issue of fake students (http://blog.abhinav.com/fake-student-visa-holders-entering-the-uk/) was also discussed as the minister affirmed that his department would also keep a strict check on bogus colleges.

British media authenticates that various rackets working in the UK, transfer money to the bank accounts of their clients in Punjab in order to ensure that they fulfill the mandatory financial requirements for the application process.

Illegal Immigration, as it is called, must be taken care of carefully, as it harms the applicant as well as the prospective country to which they are migrating to. Always take guidance from an ace Immigration guide to ensure that all formalities are carried out in a legal manner.

From January 6th, 2010 onwards, it has become mandatory for all sponsored skilled workers to get an identity card if they are intending to extend their UK Visa under Tier 2 category. Also, highly skilled and temporary workers applying for an extension of stay under Tier 1 or Tier 5 would be required to apply for an identity card under the new regulations commencing from the end of year 2010.

The identity cards confirms the legal status of an applicant, his right to work or study under the UK Laws governing his visa and provides a proof for the nationality and identity of the applicant.

By April 2011, any applicant planning to extend their stay in the UK or is intending to visit the place for a minimum of six months would need to apply for an identity card as an integral part of the application process. The process of issuing the identity cards started on November 25 2008.

These changes do not apply for people in other immigration categories along with international applicants seeking indefinite leave to remain as well as settled population. For more info, hire the services of an Immigration veteran.

If you are making your mind to study in the UK, then ensure that you attain proficiency in the English language! The UK Government is planning to make English Test as a mandatory requirement for all those prospective students who are intending to apply for short courses.

A majority of universities make it essential to take English tests, but now the government is planning to make English Test as an essential part of the application process for all the universities.

According to British Deputy High Commissioner, Richard Hyde, several students find it hard to cope up with the British life. In addition, those coming from non-English speaking countries are not articulate enough and face difficulties with their courses.

Also recent news says that the number of Indian students migrating to the UK has shown a massive increase as compared to the last year. 29,000 Indians applied for a UK Student Visa in the year 2008, a figure which rose to 40,000 in the year 2009. Therefore, all universities are making it compulsory to show a proof of the English tests.

Applicants applying for Student Visa are advised to hire the services of a Study Visa Expert and go about a hassle free application process.

The UK immigration department is very particular on the students that it permits to reside on its land. When it comes to those students who belong to the Non – EU countries, it is mandatory that these students apply to only registered universities and accredited by the Home Office. The students must show evidence that they can support themselves. With this, all students must cater to the immigration rules and policies.

Over the years, it has been seen that there has been an increase in the number of students coming to the UK. According to the authorities, there have been instances when the flights had to be called off because there had been so much of backlog which included even those immigrants with valid visas. But then due to many fraudulent practices being carried out, it has been getting difficult on the candidates to be suspected. Thus, at times all of them are allowed to enter the country leading to illegal immigration.

In addition to the above, the immigration officials claim to know that the institutions with renowned history are known to give out fake degrees or qualifications. Many cases have been caught where in the immigrants had no clue about the course they had enrolled for. More so, they couldn’t even speak English properly.

On the contrary the points based system is claimed to allow only those colleges and universities which cater to quality education and are responsible for their international students. In addition, schools and colleges are thoroughly inspected by the bodies responsible including the UK Border Agency to authorize them as being credible.

Initially, there were around 4000 such institutions in the UK which has now reduced to 2000 post scrutiny measures being put into effect. Thus, if you are student planning to study in the UK, we suggest that you contact an Immigration and Visa Consultancy firm dealing with UK student visas. This way, you can avoid all the unnecessary hassles since a consultant would know all the apt measures that need to be taken.